Glenbard West pulls away from St. Charles North
In a game with no shortage of shooting stars, Glenbard West sophomore Maggie Stutelberg stood just a little taller.
Stutelberg drained five 3-pointers in the first half and added a sixth to close out the third quarter, leading No. 6 seed Glenbard West to a 60-42 win over No. 10 St. Charles North on Tuesday in the Class 4A Geneva regional semifinals.
The Hilltoppers (22-6) will play No. 2 Geneva (19-11) at 7 p.m. Thursday for the regional championship. The teams met Jan. 15 with the Vikings winning a 51-50 nailbiter.
"We're so excited to play them to get that revenge and on their home court is really exciting," said 6-foot-2 junior Taylor Huff, who wasn't surprised by Stutelberg's shooting performance.
"She's amazing. She has great fundamentals and such a good shot."
After a back-and-forth first half with 6 lead changes, the Hilltoppers took control in the third quarter. Huff did much of the work, scoring her team's first 9 points. A 29-27 halftime lead swelled to 44-34 after three quarters, and the North Stars (15-14) never got within single digits in the fourth.
"I think we went in the locker room and it was a little too close for comfort," Huff said. "We really want to make a run in this tournament. We came out with much more energy and played our hearts out."
St. Charles North tried a little zone in the first half only to be a little late closing out on Stutelberg. She buried back-to-back 3s to close the first quarter giving her team a 17-11 lead.
Senior Annie Tate and freshman Emma Ludwig brought the North Stars back in the second quarter. Ludwig opened the quarter with a jumper, Tate hit a 3, then Ludwig knocked down another shot before scoring inside while being fouled for a 3-point play and a 21-19 lead.
Ludwig's floater followed by a baseline drive from Talia Pellegrini gave the North Stars their final lead, 27-26 just before halftime. Again it was Stutelberg closing out a quarter with a 3 - she did it in each of the first three quarters - for a 2-point halftime lead despite 15 points from Tate and 11 by Ludwig.
"That's near our top speed with regards to offense," North Stars coach Mike Tomczak said of the first half. "A lot of the things we worked on in practice, a lot of the looks we thought we'd get we were getting in the first half. It's not like we weren't getting those looks in the second half, it's the ball wasn't falling in the second half. They (Glenbard West) stayed top end both halves."
The North Stars couldn't keep up the pace in the second half, sinking just 6 of 22 shots. Ludwig scored 14 points, second to Tate with 18 points and 6 rebounds in her final high school game.
"She's got a really bright future and we're really going to miss her," Tomczak said.
Stutelberg tallied 17 of her game-high 22 points in the first half and also grabbed 8 rebounds. Huff finished with 18 points and Katelyn Heller had 11.
"We really tried to lock down defensively (in the second half). That was the key, and patience offensively," Hilltoppers coach Kristi Faulkner said.
"We have so much respect for Geneva and their success. We're going to prepare the best we can and play as hard as we can and come ready to play Thursday."